Chapter 1244: Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign (35)

As the Ideational Domain and the Domain clashed, overlapping in a single spacetime for a fleeting moment.

A colossal disc unfurled to the far reaches of spacetime, slowly rotating beneath their feet.

Kwarururururuk!!!!

The colossal clock face, an endlessly turning land.

Using the hour and minute hands as a ferry, they ascended the great river of time.

Kaiser Bajour’s Root Mindscape, which used the Mana of Reversing Heaven as its power source to directly manipulate the concept of time.

The will of the pioneer who, even if he rewound time infinitely and repeated failures, vowed to find the answer.

Domain Deployment Mindscape Manifestation of the Ideational Hierarchy [Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf]

Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwag!!!!

Lennok and Kaiser stood upon the colossal clock, whose size was immeasurable.

Beneath the surface, the twisted forms of unreadable numerals peeked out.

Lennok and Kaiser, standing on the slowly moving hour and minute hands, faced each other.

Kugugugu…!!!

Kaiser’s hollow gaze fell upon the bowed head of Lennok.

The Regressor’s worn gaze slowly tracked the wizard’s form.

As if even he, who had undergone infinite Regression, had never anticipated this moment.

“…You.”

There were two incantations deploying the Ideational Domain and the Domain. Yet, the Root Mindscape that covered and unfurled across the world was one.

A miracle where their Mental Images or Spellcrafts did not clash but overlapped and expanded simultaneously.

An impossible feat unless both individuals deployed the same Domain simultaneously.

He doubted it for a moment, but there was no mistake.

Lennok had deployed the same Domain as Kaiser, unfurling it across spacetime.

And what’s more, the Mental Image of the Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf, which only Kaiser, possessing the Mana of Reversing Heaven, could wield.

“The Annihilation Campaign meant nothing to you from the start, then.”

Kaiser spoke.

“To steal and use another’s Domain… You haven’t even used such unprecedented Authority until now, have you?”

“It’s not stolen, Kaiser.”

Lennok, his head still bowed, said quietly.

“Because this is the answer that you, decades ago, personally gave to me.”

“…”

“You said that if I didn’t lose the heart I had at the beginning, I wouldn’t regret any outcome, no matter what it was.”

Lennok’s expression, as he looked at Kaiser, had become indescribably faint.

“Even if everything was fake, if the choice alone was true… it could become an echo for what comes next.”

“…”

“I am here because I received your answer in your stead then.”

Lennok, taking a step forward, said.

Lennok, standing on the rotating minute hand, looked at Kaiser.

“I was waiting to bring your ending to you, in your place.”

“…You are.”

“Kaiser. This is a message from you, decades ago, to you now.”

Lennok slowly closed his eyes and said.

“Even if everything that made up the old you was fake… that heart, at least, was unmistakably true.”

Lennok quietly replied to Kaiser.

“For any being seeking an answer, they must remain true to the very end in my world.”

“Arrogant words.”

Kaiser questioned.

“Do you intend to judge this world based on your own Mental Image?”

“…”

Every word from Kaiser brought back memories of the final moments in the Restricted Zone.

The answer left by the past Kaiser, who sacrificed himself for Lennok, now resonated with a completely different meaning.

If everything had already changed from then. If even that memory held no meaning for Kaiser.

If it remained true only within Lennok himself.

Ultimately, they could only uphold their own answers until the very end.

Kaiser took a step.

“I know why you deployed the same Domain as me. You intended to directly intervene in my Regression using the Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf’s ability to rewind time, didn’t you?”

“…”

“But that itself is proof that you don’t understand what Regression is… Regardless of how it’s possible, it’s nothing more than a meaningless attempt.”

Kaiser, his face expressionless, spoke, ignoring Lennok’s silence.

“Regression is a miracle that perfectly defies the world’s order. That’s why its Authority cannot be used without the existence of an Ideational Domain that rewrites the laws of the world.”

“…”

“Judging by the Domain’s deployment method, the Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf you used is a possibility from when I was designing the project’s testbed… That ability merely rewinds and restores the time of objects or targets, remaining at the level of embodying the Talent for Reversing Heaven as a technical skill.”

Regression is a miracle that cannot be achieved without reaching the realm of Authority that rewrites the laws of the world.

That’s why Kaiser acquired the Ideational Domain through the project to complete his Regression ability.

Even that was only possible because Kaiser himself was an exceptional genius, possessing the Talent for Reversing Heaven and embracing it as his Root Mindscape.

The power of the Domain conveyed by the past Kaiser was insufficient to properly intervene in Kaiser’s Regression.

Kaiser, upon seeing the landscape of the Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf deployed by Lennok, immediately deduced its time period.

He instinctively knew that no matter what means Lennok used, he could not stand on the same timeline as him.

“Adamant Thunder. The method you’ve prepared cannot interfere with Regression. It’s impossible to stand on the same timeline as me, or to stop my Regression.”

Kaiser, turning to Lennok with an expressionless face, said.

“Do you truly think you, who do not possess the Talent for Reversing Heaven, can fully bear the miracle of time reversal?”

“No. Perhaps it would be impossible for a human.”

But Lennok did not deny the words; he merely smiled.

As if he already knew Kaiser would say that.

“Isn’t that why even you came this far to obtain Ethan’s body?”

“…”

“If you’re going to regress, then do it, Kaiser. I won’t follow.”

Lennok crossed his arms, ignoring Kaiser’s momentary silence.

Lennok’s tilted gaze, wreathed in dark blue mana, glinted.

“I only used the Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf to deliver a final message… Regression was never the answer I sought anyway.”

“…”

“Whatever we do, it won’t take long. Either way, the fight will end quickly.”

The final battle of the Annihilation Campaign, where Transcendent beings, defying laws, clashed amidst the overflowing currents of time.

In terms of real-world time, even that clash would be but a fleeting moment.

They both knew from the start what they had to do.

“All preparations are complete.”

Lennok lifted his gaze.

“It’s not the ending I wanted, but it will be enough to bring this war to a close.”

“…Is that so?”

Kaiser nodded.

What Lennok wanted, and why he deployed the same Domain, remained unknown for now.

It was also unknown what he aimed for by not trying to stop Kaiser’s Regression.

His detached attitude, as if he had no intention of fighting Kaiser for long, even after obtaining the Lightning of Transcendence through the Annihilation Campaign.

Yet, Kaiser, aware of all these facts, did not press for an explanation.

Since he began Regression, a single question had always been enough for him.

Confirming the doubts and questions Lennok left was not for now—

“I’ll confirm it myself in the next loop.”

Charrrrrrrruk!!!!!

The second hand rapidly reversed, and even the minute and hour hands rotated counter-clockwise, accelerating.

A miracle, directly ascending the great river of time using the hour and minute hands as a ferry.

The Authority of Regression, bestowed upon only one person in this world: Kaiser Bajour.

He imaged it in the form of an Ideational Domain and a Domain, thus ‘defying’ the world.

The Apex of Reversing Heaven, denying and rejecting the very time this world has existed.

[Regression Initiated.]

Buaaaaaaaaaang!!!!

Lennok’s form, standing on the minute hand, receded into the distance, leaving only Kaiser, now mounted on the hour hand.

In the scene where everything blurred into light, Kaiser turned without hesitation.

The Talent for Reversing Heaven was not a blessing, but a curse.

Kaiser Bajour knew that fact better than anyone else since birth.

‘You were born with a constitution where mana flows backward.’

Days spent wandering the continent, always ‘failing’ as usual.

A quack doctor he met by chance during his travels, with whom he shared a drink, said that.

‘Mana flows in the opposite direction of your entire body’s blood circulation, constantly clashing.’

‘Your time will soon flow differently from others, and you won’t live long.’

‘If you have family, it would be best to say your goodbyes in advance.’

The doctor’s words were not wrong.

That night, after he drank and fell asleep, the doctor tried to kill him himself to get his body.

The Talent for Reversing Heaven. The world’s only Trait-type Bloodline Ability and a curse flowing through his blood.

Those who noticed Kaiser’s talent all coveted his abilities and body, trying to take them even if it meant killing him.

At the time, he didn’t understand why they so desperately craved this ability.

At the time, he didn’t understand why they so feared this ability.

Looking back, all of Kaiser Bajour’s life had been like that.

What he truly desired never came at the right time; he only ever realized it much too late.

Amidst time slipping through his hands like grains of sand, he always… regretted.

If only he had done a little better then. If only he hadn’t ignored the strangeness he felt then. If only he had dug a little deeper into the secret he saw then.

He wouldn’t have failed.

Regret became lingering attachment, and lingering attachment became remorse, etched deep within his heart.

Within Kaiser, who lived a different time than others, [Regret] became his origin.

Before he knew it, Kaiser’s Root Mindscape had taken a form to defy that regret.

Charrrrrrrruk!!!!

The Ideational Domain: Eternal Tribulation Severing Leaf.

The Apex of Reversing Heaven, forged within Kaiser’s heart, a man who had lived his entire life regretting.

The essence of a genius determined to defy even time itself and alter everything to avoid regret.

He walked alone through endlessly rewinding time.

On the turning clock hands, Kaiser rewound all the time he had passed through.

A hallucination as if the landscapes and memories Kaiser had encountered were reversing before his eyes.

At the same time, Kaiser’s mind and body began to burn away, melting until not even their original form remained.

“…”

Chiiiiiiik!!!!

Regression is a miracle that defies the world’s laws and order, reversing time.

However, in the process of reversing time, the caster’s mind and body inevitably become exhausted.

Like Water Droplets Pierce Stone, just as no matter how hard a rock is, it cannot withstand flowing water droplets.

As one ascends the river of time, the soul and spirit are worn away by the flowing currents.

A conclusion where personality, intellect, humanity, and eventually even memory—the identity that constitutes the self—are destroyed, ultimately becoming a part of eternal time.

Kaiser obtained Ethan’s body because he wanted a means to avoid that rebound.

The Revived’s Talent.

Though not a talent for rewinding time like Kaiser’s, it was an ability that could reverse physical damage and even disregard death.

As Ethan’s ability grew stronger, to the point where it could resurrect him from death, Kaiser saw a different possibility in his son.

A vessel that would prevent his soul and mind from wearing away, no matter how many Regressions he underwent.

The power to be completely free from the side effects of Regression, allowing him to ‘challenge’ endlessly as before.

The reason Kaiser, after long trials and errors, had obtained the body possessed by his son.

Bbaajijijijik-

The inevitable wearing away of soul and mind encountered while ascending the river of time.

The pain that had driven him mad every time he regressed began to quickly subside.

The mental attrition and damage to his mind and body that had reduced Kaiser to less than an animal began to reverse.

A miracle made possible the moment he obtained Ethan’s body, inherited with the Revived’s Talent.

Having confirmed this, Kaiser, without hesitation, began Regression once more.

Charrrrrrrruk!!!!

Amidst the turning clock hands, he restored his mind and body and walked through time once more.

Adamant Thunder. A Transcendent who massacred tens of thousands in the Annihilation Campaign and awakened Level 9 Lightning Magic.

A monster who challenged Transcendence, using a war started to kill him as an Ascension Ritual.

A genius who killed countless Transcendent’s and reached that realm with a blood-soaked heart.

If they had clashed head-on, he couldn’t have been certain of victory.

Though he had obtained Ethan’s body, fighting was never his forte, then or now.

Nevertheless, Kaiser had defeated geniuses and monsters that would be etched in history, standing at the apex of Vulcan.

He won the civil war that determined Vulcan’s fate, dominated the underworld, designed the project, and persuaded Transcendent’s, dreaming of salvation.

The reason Kaiser ultimately triumphed against countless monsters and geniuses, or was able to draw them in.

It wasn’t because Kaiser held an advantage in their ‘present’ and ‘future’.

Charrrrrrrruk!!!!!

He continued to rewind the time Adamant Thunder had existed, repeating Regression.

To before he defeated Madrich Onnion and reached Level 8.

To before he killed Pardun MacQueen, the Cartel’s First Director, and completed Level 7.

He went back to before he stole and learned Lightning-type Unique Magic to become a true wizard.

The ‘past’ that even Transcendent’s, who stirred the world, could not escape, a time when they were weak and insignificant.

Hwaaaak!!!

The moment he closed and opened his eyes, Kaiser stood in a corner of a messy alleyway.

A sight all too familiar to Kaiser himself. The landscape of District 49, which he used to frequent thousands of times.

But now, an old memory, devoid of any remaining emotion.

A bustling and vibrant downtown of the underworld, still crowded with mercenaries and outlaws even decades later.

“…”

People passing by. Even the voices heard from all directions felt distant, far away.

In this moment, Regression back to the past, everything felt strange and awkward, as if disconnected from Kaiser.

A timeline completely unrelated to Kaiser himself, yet one that had undeniably existed there at some point.

Kaiser, standing in the alleyway of District 49 with an expressionless face, slowly began to walk.

The solitude of a failure who walked a timeline forever different from others.

This silence, felt immediately after Regression, was always his alone.

The despair he had faced every time since rewinding the project’s failure, endlessly collecting and editing talents.

Even though it was a sensation he hadn’t felt in a very long time, it was surprisingly familiar and evoked no emotion.

Even this very moment was merely part of countless passing trials and errors.

Therefore, what needed to be done was clear.

Kkiiiik!

He opened an old door, passed down the stairs that followed, and entered a dimly lit bar.

The moment he opened the door and entered, a sharp-featured woman with curly hair turned around.

“Oh, a face I haven’t seen before. A new customer?”

“…”

Kaiser did not reply.

He merely gazed at the woman standing before him, his expression unreadable, for a long time.

Slightly trembling fingertips. A sense of unease, as if responding to her sight regardless of Kaiser’s own will.

But the woman, as if accustomed to such gazes, casually crossed her arms.

“Sorry, but staring won’t make money appear. I can give you work instead.”

“…”

“Oh, did my joke not land? Well, never mind, just close the door and come in.”

Seeing Kaiser not respond, the woman shrugged.

She skillfully tidied the glasses, then pointed at someone sitting at the bar.

“As it happens, there’s someone who just came in looking for work, just like you.”

“…”

Only then did Kaiser’s expressionless eyes follow her gesture and turn.

Sitting at the bar opposite the woman, a black-haired young man with his back turned was looking at a catalog.

Wearing a black coat and with a cigarette in his mouth, his figure was undeniably thin at a glance.

The woman, who was shaking a cocktail, shrugged.

“Was his name Van? He’s a Lightning Wizard, and he’s pretty good. If you’re interested in working together—”

“…”

Ignoring the woman’s voice, Kaiser slowly walked toward the young man.

Though it was his first time seeing him with his own eyes, he knew he had arrived at the correct place the moment he saw him.

A Transcendent Grand Mage who reached Level 8. A Transcendent who obtained Level 9 Lightning Magic.

But even such a genius has a time when they were weak, unstable, and lacking power.

A past timeline that existed before he had properly built up his hierarchy.

At the time when he first drifted into this city and began working as a freelancer.

Kaiser had endlessly rewound through timelines, regressing all the way back to when Adamant Thunder first began operating in Vulcan.

“…”

The past Adamant Thunder, oblivious to Kaiser’s presence, engrossed in the catalog.

He approached Adamant Thunder, who was within arm’s reach.

Now, anything was possible.

Killing Adamant Thunder right here. Or, conversely, persuading Adamant Thunder to become his ally.

Even designing his destiny from this point on, bending it in the direction Kaiser desired.

Now that he had Ethan’s body, no matter what method he chose, the past Adamant Thunder wouldn’t even perceive it.

If he failed, he would try again. If he gave up, he would try again. He would repeat trials and errors infinitely until he achieved the desired outcome.

Standing here, face to face with the past Adamant Thunder, was the first proof that Kaiser had truly returned to this world.

Therefore—

“Aren’t you going to sit?”

At that moment, Adamant Thunder, who had his back turned, spoke.

He spoke nonchalantly, still looking at the catalog.

“The cocktails mixed here are quite good. You’ll regret it if you don’t try one now.”

“…”

“Jordan was still healthy back then, so he often made the cocktails himself. The taste was even more special if you visited then.”

Adamant Thunder spoke to Kaiser, who had frozen still, in a calm tone.

“I thought it might be a bit romanticized since it’s such an old memory… but now that I’m back, it’s not. It’s exactly as I remembered it.”

A remorseful demeanor unbefitting a wizard who had just started freelancing.

Answers as if he knew details about cocktails from a bar he hadn’t frequented much.

Even recognizing Kaiser’s presence first and speaking to him.

Adamant Thunder slowly raised his glass and muttered quietly.

“I had to earn today to buy tomorrow. I had nothing, and sometimes I was afraid to sleep.”

“…”

“So much has changed… but why do I still think of this time sometimes?”

Something was different.

Kaiser, sensing it instinctively, unconsciously twitched his fingers.

This man was not a past existence on the timeline Kaiser had regressed to—

“Sit, Kaiser.”

Lennok slowly turned his head.

Following his gaze, the dark blue mana glow glinted, illuminating Kaiser’s face.

“As I said, the fight will end quickly.”

“…You are.”

The final message Lennok had given Kaiser just before time reversed and he regressed.

Upon realizing that, an undeniable crack appeared on Kaiser’s expressionless face for the first time.

The reason Lennok, even after deploying the same Domain as Kaiser, did not directly follow his Regression.

The reason he did not stop Kaiser, even as he watched the moment he rewound time and regressed.

Lennok had arrived on the regressed timeline before Kaiser, waiting for him.